Epson Pro Cinema 6010 Home Theater Projector Mini Review

February 14, 2012 - Art Feierman

Pro Cinema 6010 Projector 3D

Let’s talk 3D. The biggest problem with most new 3D capable projectors is simply that almost all could use a bunch more lumens to be really bright enough when in 3D mode. The Epson 6010 (like the 5010), in this case, is the brightest 3D capable projector we’ve measured so far. One or two others are very close to it. Actually only the Panasonic PTAE7000 so far appears as bright in 3D (though isn’t in 2D). Of course some extensive three-chip projectors selling for five or ten times the price will be brighter still, but we won’t stress over that.

Click to enlarge. 3D quality overall on the Pro Cinema 6010 Home Theater Projector is rather impressive. It was cleaner than most that we’ve seen, although there is still definitely still some cross talk. Fortunately Epson provides three brightness settings for controlling the glasses. I found that in the brightest setting, there is definitely a bit of visible cross talk. Not enough to bother everybody but I definitely prefer less crosstalk than that. I found the medium setting works fine for just about everything I watched.

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Bottom line on 3D: The Epson is Dazzling. I can kvetch (complain) all I want about the dynamic iris not being active, but the overall 3D is bright and stunning. The blacks could be blacker, but are black enough. The rest is killer.

My friends come over and are truly taken aback. (in fairness, that has also been the case with the Panasonic). I plant everyone about 4-5 feet from the screen and show them Hubble 3D, or Flight, or Tahiti, or maybe even football or boxing in 3D (amazing, truly amazing), or perhaps, a movie.

What a projector filling a large screen brings to the party is so euphoric, that the government should ban 3D on anything smaller than 90 inches! (and that from a guy with libertarian tendences).

Pro Cinema 6010 Creative Frame Interpolation - CFI - smooth motion

Click here to enlarge. Once again, the 6010 shares another feature with the 5010 projectors, read more in the Home Cinema 5010 review.

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HDMI-Link

From the Pro Cinema 6010 remote control, you can control other devices, such as many Blu-ray players that support HDMI-Link. Note, you’ll find a full set of DVD type controls on the Epson remote, which we discuss on next page.

Pro Cinema 6010 Lamp Life

This Epson offers a claimed 4,000 hours at full power on its lamp and 5,000 running in eco mode. Folks that’s about as good as it gets! Oh, remember, that’s going to be the average life per the manufacturer. That means probably half of you will find your lamp doesn’t last that long, and the rest – will find their lamp still going after that mark.

A comment about lamp life: Lamps are very inconsistent. There is some color output variation from lamp to lamp, and lamp life varies as well. Even with a claim of 4000 hours, a projector manufacturer is going to have some users having lamps fail at 500 hours, or 1000, or 2000, or 3500, or even 6000 hours. The thing is, Epson tends to be a bit “over the top” compared to others, when it comes to support, so definitely, should you lamp fail, at say 1500 hours, I’d say call Epson’s Private Line support (the number comes with the projector), and let them know. They just might pleasantly suprise you, where other manufacturers normally won’t!

Epson's Fujinon 2.1:1 zoom lens

Epson’s been using this lens since the original Home Cinema 1080 more than 5 years ago. It’s got a touch more zoom range than anything close (such as the competing Panasonic). The optics do look pretty good. The lens allows a really sharp look at your pixels if you stand next to the screen. This is a 3 chip LCD projector, which means there’s never perfect conversion. With the Epson Home Cinema 5010, no issues on the optics, and more placement flexibility than other lenses, very few of which offer more than 1.6:1.

Just remember, if you are going to place the projector at the maximum distance from your screen, as with all projectors with zoom lenses, the optics are at their least bright, and brightest, when the projector is at its closest.